Friday, July 31, 2009

how to succeed at being yourself

How To Succeed at Being Yourself
by Joyce Meyer

It’s tough to enjoy life when you don’t like yourself. People who haven’t learned to accept and get along with themselves tend to have more difficulty accepting and getting along with others. Yet, the Bible repeatedly tells us to “love your neighbor as yourself.” I personally spent years having a hard time getting along with people, until I finally realized through the Word of God how my difficulty with other people was actually “rooted” in my difficulties with myself.The Bible says a good tree will bear good fruit, and a rotten tree will bear rotten fruit. Likewise, the “fruit” of our lives comes from the “root” within us. If you're rooted in shame, guilt, inferiority, rejection, lack of love and acceptance, etc., the fruit of your relationships will suffer. However, once you have a revelation of God’s unconditional love for you and begin to accept yourself and others, eventually these new roots will produce good fruit, and your relationships will thrive.

Here are a few tips I believe will help you succeed at being yourself.

1. Never say or think negative things about yourself, such as, "I never do anything right." “I'll never change.” “I'm ugly.” “I look terrible.” “I'm dumb.” “Who could ever love me?” Matthew 12:37 says, ...by your words you will be justified..., and by your words you will be condemned…. Proverbs 23:7 says, …as [a man] thinketh in his heart, so is he. (KJV). In other words, the way we talk and think about ourselves reveals how we feel about ourselves.

2. Speak good things about yourself (as private confessions) in line with what the Word says about you. For example: "I am the righteousness of God in Christ.” “I am made acceptable in the Beloved.” “God created me and formed me with His own hands, and God doesn't make mistakes." I like starting the day making good confessions. Perhaps you can do this while you're driving to work or cleaning house. I also encourage you to look in the mirror and say out loud, "God loves and accepts you, and so do I." You may even try hugging yourself. This is beneficial to people who have lacked love and acceptance in their lives.

3. Never compare yourself with other people. God must love variety or He wouldn't have created us all differently—even down to our fingerprints. You'll never succeed at being yourself if you're trying to be like someone else. Other people can be a good example to you, but duplicating even their good traits will manifest differently through your individual personality.

4. Focus on your potential instead of your limitations. Actress Helen Hayes was told early in her career that if she were four inches taller she’d be the greatest actress of her time. Her coaches tried various methods of stretching her, but nothing increased her height. She refused to concentrate on the supposed limitation of being five feet tall and decided to concentrate on her potential. As a result, she was eventually cast as Mary, Queen of Scotland—one of the tallest queens who ever lived.

5. Find something you like to do that you do well, and do it over and over. If you spend your time doing things you're not good at, it’ll frustrate you and cause you to feel defeated and unsuccessful.

6. Have the courage to be different and deal with criticism. Be a God-pleaser, not a man-pleaser (see Galatians 1:10). If you dare to be different, you’ll have to expect some criticism. Going along with the crowd—when you know in your heart God’s leading you a different way—is one reason people don't succeed at being themselves. You won't like yourself very much if you go against your own convictions.

7. Don't let the way another person treats you determine your worth.

8. Keep your flaws in perspective. People with a high level of confidence have just as many weaknesses as people without confidence, but they concentrate on their strengths—not their flaws or weaknesses.

In conclusion, let me remind you of my opening statement: It’s tough to enjoy life when you don’t like yourself. When you learn to succeed at being yourself, you’ll be well on your way to enjoying life more fully.

Sunday, July 26, 2009

what doth a "princess" look like?

perhaps this?
or, THIS?


oooohhhh...how 'bout THIS??


or, even THIS??
whichever ONE it IS...SHE is ONE...
& tomorrow...
...it IS
"PRINCESS CAMP 2009"!
(ta-dah!)

Thursday, July 23, 2009

whatcha gonna do?

my oldest getting a case of the 16-hour "yak-a-moes" put a wrench in our "girls only" roadtrip to my dad's for the rest of this week. and since no one else has come down with the stomach yuckies (yet...) i got to spend tonight catching up on some tv shows that i recorded and had not watched. my new fave show this summer? "army wives". i do not know what i will do when my fall sunday at 9pm show returns...
the episode i watched tonight was not only wonderful...but it included my newest fave song...

WAITING FOR MY REAL LIFE TO BEGIN
(written by: Colin Hay / Thom Mooney) Colin Hay
Any minute now, my ship is coming in
I'll keep checking the horizon
I'll stand on the bow, feel the waves come crashing
Come crashing down down down, on me
And you say, be still my love
Open up your heart
Let the light shine in
But don't you understand I already have a plan
I'm waiting for my real life to begin
When I awoke today, suddenly nothing happened
But in my dreams, I slew the dragon
And down this beaten path, and up this cobbled lane
I'm walking in my old footsteps, once again
And you say, just be here now
Forget about the past, your mask is wearing thin
Let me throw one more dice I know that I can win
I'm waiting for my real life to begin
Any minute now, my ship is coming in
I’ll keep checking the horizon
And I'll check my machine, there's sure to be that call
It's gonna happen soon, soon, soon
It's just that times are lean
And you say, be still my love
Open up your heart, let the light shine in
Don't you understand I already have a plan
I'm waiting for my real life to begin
and you can listen to it here.

Tuesday, July 21, 2009

fickle & larky

here is a recipe that i have to make S-O-O-N!
(S'MORE COOKIES...SERIOUSLY!!!)

my latest "gettin' on my crafty-high-horse":
$75 "craigs list" armoire
uppercase living "mod poppy" expression
(in terra cotta and antique bronze)
- cut expression in 1/2
- installed a half on each door
i think that my husband was worried for a bit because i had not done either:
A) painted it, or
B) UL'd it.
see...he was worried for nothing, huh?!?!?!?!

Saturday, July 18, 2009

how to make a sandwich

karl & jodi, circa february 2003

karl & jodi, circa july 19, 2003


karl & jodi, circa june 2009
wren & i have a little thing where i'll say "i love you peanut butter" and she will tell me "i love you jelly". recently she has changed this. when i said "i love you peanut butter" she said "i'm not peanut butter, you are!" and when i asked what she was, she said "i am bread". okay? ummm...then she went on..."you are the peanut butter, daddy is the jelly and i am one piece of bread and nea-nea is the other piece of bread".
so...it's taken us 6 years, but that's how you make a really, really good sandwich!


Wednesday, July 15, 2009

chink in the armor

i have been "super-perfect-mom" to the 2 little girls for the past 3 and 4 years. but recently, i have started to find chinks in my "super-perfect-mom" armor. i always go into each daughter's room after the daddy has done the ritualistic tuck-in. they each like to "chat" about their day, or what's "after this night", or a book, or a buddy, or whatever. the other night, as i leaned in to then give wren her good night smooch, she says to me: "your breath smells gross, momma"...and then waved her hand in front of her nose. i told her that i had just eaten a burger and that is what my breath smells like. she told me that she thinks "that burger mustta tasted gross!". okay, first time she's ever complained about my breath. maybe it was just the first time i have actually HAD bad breath around my almost 4.5-yr-old daughter? yee-ee-aaaa-hhhh, that's what it is. no chink there...because "super-perfect-mom" always has minty-fresh breath, right?! then the other evening i informed wren that the daddy & i enrolled her in preschool...she said that she was super excited to go and then when her little sister said that she wanted to go, too, wren(very sweetly, really) told her that it was just for very big girls like herself but that linnea might get to do really fun things with momma while wren is in school...fun things like run errands and clean. oh, my. again, no chink there, because doesn't "super-perfect-mom" never have to do those mundane things like that so she can always just take the kids to the park, or zoo, or museum, or swimming at the ymca, or...or...or...? schew, dodged that one, too, eh?!
so, slowly wren is beginning to see me not so much as "super-perfect-mom", but as "pretty-good-human-mom". sigh. that one IS easier to live up to, just not quite as fun.



Saturday, July 11, 2009

middle-aged, schmiddled-aged, i say!

omaha world herald,
saturday, july 11, 2009...insert:
the larsons: the daddy, wren, the momma, linnea
couple errors: last name is spelled wrong...it is "larsOn", not "larsen"...and we started our family in our MID-30's, not late. but, hey! at least they spelled each of our FIRST NAMES correctly, right??!!!

please email me if you'd like your copy autographed 'kay?!


Thursday, July 9, 2009

rockin' it old school

wren & her guitar shirt!

aiming for the treetops...



this is the way we garden with grams...





Thursday, July 2, 2009

celebration

this is what $5 will get you at the fabric store.
this is what you can do with that $5 of supplies during "sesame street".
sideview: to show off the "fireworksey" (or "pireworksey, as nea says) hair-ties


enjoy a safe and happy july 4th...





terminology

we used to call linnea..."little".
we used to call wren..."big".
that was before linnea became the non-diaper-wearing-underpanty-wearing-go-potty-anywhere-&-everywhere-big-girl.
so...now?
linnea is..."big".
wren is..."bigger".
and the momma is...sad about this.
we no longer have a "little".
this i am mourning.
not michael.
or farrah.
or billie.